A Midsummer Apricot Dream

Stone fruit speaks to my tastes buds – I love apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums second only to raspberries and blueberries in the summer. This July was one of the first Julys I have spent in Seattle in a long, long, long time and I must say that the summer fruits and vegetables during mid-summer rival anywhere I have been in the world.

Last Sunday I bought a boatload of fruit. One of the jewels of my bounty — large, beautiful, golden-hued apricots. They were not quite ripe enough so I put them on my counter in one of my beloved Italian ceramic bowls and I must say they looked like a photo. Then a few days later they finally ripened and it was time to make some decisions.

I put aside a few just to grab and eat. Next, I searched the internet and found an old Smitten Kitchen recipe for “Apricot Breakfast Tart.” Looking at her recipe and the comments that followed, I mentally decided to switch the granulated sugar for brown sugar, swap out pecans for sliced almonds (because that is what I had on hand), and use cinnamon instead of nutmeg.

I loved making this – it was kind of rustic and only required one saucepan, the ceramic dish I baked the crisp in – and my hands. It was quick to put together, quick to bake and then I left for a yoga class. When I returned the crisp was cooled off and I had to try it.

OH EM GEE. The tartness, which the original recipe thought was too much, was perfect for my taste buds. I planned to top the crisp with ice cream for dinner or with plain yogurt and honey for breakfast but changed my mind. In my world, this is how desserts or breakfast should taste – a little sweet, a lot crunchy and filled with fruity flavor.

Not so pretty, but the taste!

Suffice it to say – I will be making this again and again. It is not the most beautiful dessert but what it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in flavor. It’s kind of like eating an apricot granola parfait. And I loved the turbinado sugar so much in the topping for the crunchiness that I am adding this to all my crisp toppings going forward.

Oh, and I bet this would be good with Italian plums or peeled sliced peaches too. It would be fun to make small ramekins of this crisp too. ENDLESS possibilities.

Apricot Crisp

Fruit Base Ingredients

2 pounds fresh ripe apricots

⅓ cup brown cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Crisp Topping Ingredients

1 stick salted butter

¾ cup turbinado sugar

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse apricots and pull apart at their seam, remove pits, and tear into large pieces (about six pieces total if the apricots are large – or four if they are medium-sized). Place them in an oven-safe baking dish (I used a ceramic pie plate). Add brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon and mix with your hands so you feel like you are in kindergarten again!

Ready for the oven

Prepare the topping by melting the butter in a large saucepan. Take the pan off the heat and add in turbinado sugar, oats, flour, and nuts then stir together with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle mixture over the fruit, distributing the topping evenly over the apricots with your hands. Bake for about 30 minutes mid oven and let it cool or refrigerate overnight and reheat slightly.

This is tart – my favorite kind of dessert. If you have a sweeter tooth than me, top with unsweetened yogurt and drizzle with honey, or serve with a scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream on the side.